The Press., 1887-03-03
(For The Press.) DRIVING THROUGH CONNECTICUT GEOG RAPHY.
JOSIAH.
BY THE DRIVER.

pose he thought he was doing the driving. I suppose everybody else thought so, too. May be he was drivin' the horses, but Z don't stop at horses. I've been driving folks, and everybody else, hit or miss, and havin' the jolliest kind of a time out of it, ever slnce can remember. For ye see, I'm such queer little bit of a l0oki7a' chap, that folks don't half the time notice me at all. I cut up lots of capers, and then slip behind the door or some where, and folks think they done the mischief | themselves.
 When folks do see me they say, That's Fate; ; or Fortune ;" or Jest my blamed luck P
 That kinder tickles me don't care how many names they sling at me, as long as I can twist 'em round my little finger the next minute, if want to; and that's considerable, considerin' t I'm such lit- tie shaver-iust in the mornin' of life as ye might say-only about six (thousand) years old, and don't weigh anything to speak of by the steelyards. But I'm the driver, after aIl
 Now you know me, don't you?
 We'll now about that drive.
 You see twas this way. Mir. Great Heart, he used to be called the best look ing young fellow in town. heard pret- ty girl say so myself. I guess the girls about his age were pretty much all by the ears about him, any way.
 We'll he got to waitin' on one of 'em, and it went on spell, and folks said they was engaged. But the rest of the girls said it wouldn't amount to nothin' and sure enough it didn't
 You see he ain't one Q them kind that it takes all day to sldle round half bush el measure and after while it caae out something or other had come mp in their path, and told them that they couldn't keep step together.
 But he didn't stop to cry about it. Just drive nail there (Nail heads count for morals you know). No sir, he didn't lose no time, till he'd posted off after mate that could keep up with him.
 He found his match the first place he stopped, and Isa-that'a his wife you know -she seemed willing enough to try race with him, for she'd been kinder tied head to foot, as ye might say, same as he had, and got awful tired of it.
 l do jest wish you could "a seen her. Her cheeks were just as red, and her eyes jest as black, and her hair jest as curly!
 Didn't they make 8 team though You better believe it and all the floods in Noah's ark, couldn't scare um into break
 
 started.
 And now they've been racing-lets see,- goip on eighteen years, and they hain,' t neither one tuckered the other out yet. Like enough one'll make little dash ahead, once in a while, and then turn round nd look back. Then the other'l say, "You better set down or you'll get sick P and that's all 1t amounts to go, goin' ahead.
 But they're jest like couple of colts yet. They get over a great deal of ground, and then have time to dance a quickstep, while the rest are stoppin' to git breath.
 So that's the way twas! That's the way they came to take this November drive that I'm telling about; while the rest O the folks was ketchin' up with their work.
 They was-let's see-they was four of um that took it. Five counting in me and Dolly, and by jingo you leave out Dolly and you leave out the drive. O but she's daisy-Dolly round and plump and jest the eutest red you ever seen, with once in while a white hair sprinkled around and her mane is as thick o my but she's got just the thickest mane and she takes the buggy along jest as steady. and I'll bet she got as much fun out of it as any of the rest of us, Anyway she didn't act tired bit, after she'd trotted thirty or forty miles and little Mabel, she said but stop must tell you about Mabel.
 She's nine years old goin' on ten. She's cute little witch-quick as flash, and kinder pale like, but she don't look no more like her mother than you do-not 8 bit But she's jest Twin picture of Aaron that's MT. Great Heart yea know.
 No let's see yes, you part his hair in the middle on top, an comb it down in bangs in front; you bleach out his face 8 little and cut off his mustache and that's little Mabel all over-two or three times over, too, I declare for ye see Mabel don't weigh more'n fifty or sixty: and MT. Great Heart he weighed 1643 down in MT. Worthy's shop the other day, where they make silver spoons and things s-Bnt then, that was just after we'd eat visitin' dinner.
 Mabel's mamma-she weighed hundred and ten, and you'd think they was all worth their weight in gold to see the much they think of each other.
 But that teacher that went along-she's the beater She says it takes four ounces